The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that the University of Pretoria has been accredited as a testing centre for suspected illegal bowling actions. The centre joins Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, Loughborough University and the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai as testing facilities for players reported in international cricket under theICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions.

The facility was assessed against a range of criteria, including having an indoor area large enough to allow a player to bowl off his or her normal full run-up; a motion analysis system with a minimum of 12 high speed cameras capable of producing three-dimensional data, suitably qualified personnel, experienced in using such systems, and implementing the ICC testing protocol.The ICC has provided its testing protocol, which includes a suite of testing equipment and software, to the four accredited centres, to allow for a consistent assessment of bowlers across the different facilities and countries.The accreditation of the University of Pretoria is part of an ICC effort to tackle the issue of illegal bowling actions in a number of ways, including the location of accredited testing facilities in each region. With several other countries showing interest in hosting testing centres to help them assess bowlers in their domestic competitions, the ICC hopes to assess and accredit a select range of additional facilities over the coming years.The Regulations for the Review of Bowlers reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions can be foundhere.